The episode focused on “clinics” who use unproven stem cell therapies to falsely promise cures to neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease. These entities are not approved by the FDA and typically charge large sums of money. There’s more than 500 in the country, including some in New York State.

Temple spoke on the show about the differences between unproven therapies, and authentic, responsible stem cell therapy development. Potential patients were advised to visit the website A Closer Look at Stem Cells to learn more about what to ask when considering a stem cell therapy.

“We in the stem cell community are incredibly concerned about these clinics,” Temple told Dr. Mehmet Oz. “We take the time [and it takes years] to do the excellent science, to understand how things work and follow the regulatory path into the clinic. These clinics are just popping up, saying they can cure a whole list of diseases. We know they can’t because each of those diseases has a different underlying cause. We are really worried that it’s ultimately going to undermine the genuine good work that’s being done.”

Temple, a native of York, England, leads a team of 30 researchers focused on using neural stem cells to develop therapies for eye, brain and spinal cord disorders. In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her contribution and future potential in the neural stem cell field, and this month was awarded by the National Institutes of Health for her exploration of cerebral cortex development.

You can learn more about Temple’s research by visiting her faculty expert page. Also watch the full episode of “Dr. Oz” here.